Africa^ its Pad mid Future. 121 



structed the way; that the season was sickly, and a large part 

 of his followers died long before he could have reached Emin 

 Pacha. 



The reports of his capture, and of his safe return to the 

 Aruvimi River, are known to all. These may or may not be 

 true. Although we have not heard from Stanley for a year 

 and a half, yet it by no means follows that he is dead ; for 

 Livingstone, Stanley, and other explorers have been lost for a 

 longer time, and have afterward found their way back to the 

 coast. No man has greater knowledge of the country through 

 which his route lay, or of the character of the natives, or the 

 best manner of dealing with them. Emin Pacha was encamped 

 quietly for nearly two years at Wadelai ; and Stanley, in like 

 manner, may have been compelled to remain at some inland 

 point and raise his own provisions. 



The Future of Africa. 



It is impossible to prophesy the future of any country, much 

 less that of Africa, where the phj'sical features have left so 

 marked an impression upon its inhabitants, and where the animal 

 life is so different from that of the other continents. It is rather 

 by differentiating Africa from other countries that we obtain 

 any data from which to form an opinion of its future. 



Africa, as we have seen, is surrounded by a fringe of Euro- 

 pean settlements. What effect will these settlements have upon 

 Africa? Will the European population penetrate the interior, 

 and colonize Africa ? Will it subjugate or expel the Africans, 

 or will they fade away like the Indians of our country ? If 

 colonization by Europeans fail, will the African remain the sole 

 inhabitant of the country as barbarian or civilized ? 



Egypt is now controlled by the English, but its climate is too 

 unhealthy, and its surrounding too unfavorable, for Englishmen; 

 and we may safely assume that their occupation will be tempo- 

 rary, or, if permanent, not as colonists. They will remain, as in 

 India, foreigners and rulers, until the subjugated people rise in 

 their power and expel them, and return to their old life. The 

 English rule, though possibly beneficial to Egypt, is hated by the 

 natives, who demand Egypt for the Egyptians. 



Leaving Egypt, we pass an uninhabitable coast, until we come 

 to the French colonies of Algiers. It is nearly sixty years since 



